By: Roxie Graham-Marski Posted at: 09/27/2012 10:52 AM PINE RIDGE, S.D. (AP) - Staffers who work for the appropriations committees in the U.S. House and Senate are checking housing projects on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian reservation.

The director of the Thunder Valley Community Development Corp. says federal money is essential to helping to solve the reservation's housing needs.

Nick Tilsen says Thunder Valley has used about $1 million in federal grants to draw up plans to improve reservation communities. Now, he says, more aid is needed to follow through.

Four different energy-efficient housing designs are being tried out, including a home made out of straw bales.

Appropriations Committee staffers say it's important for them to get a firsthand look at what is being done with federal money on community housing projects.